It's September tomorrow! Which means we'll be back singing together very soon.

If you're coming to the Workshops I'll see you next week. I'm really excited about playing you the new songs. I think (and I hope) you're going to love them.

I'll be closing the voting for the Workshops Songs first thing Monday morning so there's still time to vote if you've not yet done so. Go to the Calendar below and click Show/Hide. It should show the Workshops by default. Scroll down to the ones you're coming to and you should see a list of songs.

As always, you can book your place at popclubchoir.uk/shop.

A quick note on Workshops: the idea is to give everyone an opportunity to catch up on songs they don't feel they know too well, and of course, it's hopefully fun to get together and sing.

Many of you will have seen (and kindly shared) my recent social media post about this. I'm really keen that new joiners don't have to do all the work themselves.

They're longer sessions so I try and break them up with plenty of new Hot Hopefuls which we just bash through as a sing along. I take a few more breaks too, so you can catch your breath.

I'm so chuffed that so many of you come along to them and it's true that it would be a rather more expensive endeavour if you didn't support them, but do rest assured that Workshops are an added extra. You won't miss any key learning if they're not for you.

WEBSITE

This week's exciting new feature in the Members' Area is the Suggest A Song panel. Here you can vote on all the songs you've already asked me about and you can add suggestions of your own.

If you're adding a song, please make sure you type the name, artist and year the song was released, as accurately as you can. At the moment, the system does not check for duplicates so if you can check you're not adding something that's already there, it'd be really helpful.

Next week will be taken up with Workshops and putting the final bits of preparation in place for the Downloads for our new songs, so I'm unlikely to get round to building something to check for duplicates until second of third week or September.

GIGS

There's a new gig in the Calendar. It's 12th October and it's at our Ipswich location, Ipswich Sports Club. We'll be raising money for St Elizabeth Hospice and we'll be singing a few tunes with Little Bealing's 12th Best Elvis Impersonator. Those of you who sang with me at Portman Road in 2023 will be able to put a face to this description.

We'll do a set at around 8pm and then Simon will join us for a few tunes at the end before doing a set on his own. It should be a fun evening and it's a great cause. If you just want to come along for the sing, we'll be done and dusted by 9pm I'm sure. Or you're welcome to stay for the rest of the evening if you'd like.

BUNGAY VENUE

The Bungay Community Centre has become available on a Tuesday night so there's currently some discussion about whether we re-locate.

I love the Woodton Village Hall and they've made us feel so welocme. We've got many Woodton residents who now come along. However, I know some of you are worried about the parking when winter comes. Please do let me know your thoughts.

No decision has been made, and we may just do something as simple as a formal vote. It'll then be down to me make sure as many of you as possile are happy, whatever the outcome.

SOCIAL

So many of you have been asking about our Halloween Social on Saturday 26th October. More details to follow but do save the date!

QUESTIONNAIRE

A reminder that you can still fill in a questionnaire for last term. I'm always trying to make it better so it really is useful to know what you all think. I'll have printed copies with me on the first week of rehearsals, or you can download a copy at popclubchoir.uk/questionnaire.pdf.

Finally, even if you're a Pop Club Choir veteran, don't forget to check the Useful Information, "pinned" at the top of this section. I want this to be a "One-Stop-Shop" for everything you need to know about about your Club.

Let me know if there's anything that you're always hunting for that you'd like included in this bit.

As always, you can email me at ed@popclubchoir.uk, or whatsapp, call or text on 07973 110075. Or hit me up on Facebook!

Ed X